Beryl Burton
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Beryl Burton (12 May 1937 – 8 May 1996) was an English racing cyclist and arguably one of Britain's greatest ever sportspersons.
She dominated women’s cycle racing in the UK, winning more than 90 UK championships and seven world titles, and setting numerous national records. She set a women's record which exceeded the men's record for two years (see Record-breaker below). She became an international star in the days before women’s cycling warranted major media coverage let alone participation in the Olympic games (achieved in 1988).
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[edit] First success
Burton was born Beryl Charnock in Leeds, West Yorkshire and lived there throughout her life, racing mainly for Morley Cycling Club and later Knaresborough CC. She was introduced to cycling through her husband, Charlie, whom she married in 1955. Two years later, she took her first national medal, a silver in the national 100-mile individual time trial championship, and before the decade was out was also competing internationally.
[edit] International honours
Burton won the women’s world road race championship twice (1960 and 1967) and was runner-up in 1961. On the track, she specialised in the individual pursuit discipline, winning world championship medals almost every year across three decades. She was world champion five times (1959, 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1966), silver-medallist three times (1961, 1964 and 1968), and won bronze in 1967, 1970 and 1973.
[edit] Domestic domination
In domestic time trial competition, Burton was almost unbeatable in women’s competitions. She won the Road Time Trials Council’s British Best All-Rounder Competition for 25 consecutive years from 1959 to 1983. In total, she also won 72 national individual time trial titles; she won four at 10 miles (the championship was only inaugurated in 1978), 26 at 25 miles, 24 at 50 miles and 18 at 100 miles. Her last national solo time trial titles were achieved in 1986 (at 25 and 50 miles; she was part of the fastest team, Knaresborough CC, in the 50 mile event in 1989).
She also won a further 21 national titles in road racing and on the track: nine road race championships, and 12 pursuit titles.
[edit] Record-breaker
In 1967, she set a new 12-hour time trial record of 277.25 miles[1] – a mark that surpassed the men’s record of the time by 0.73 miles and was not superceded until 1969[2]. She also set about 50 new national records at 10, 15, 25, 30, 50 and 100-mile distances; her final 10, 25 and 50-mile records each lasted 20 years before being broken, her 100-mile record lasted 28 years, and her 12-hour record still stands today. Her prowess led to the rare distinction, for a woman, of an invitation to compete in the Grand Prix des Nations in 1967.
In 1982, with her daughter Denise, Burton set a British 10-mile record for women riding a tandem bicycle: 21 minutes, 25 seconds.
[edit] Legacy
Her daughter, Denise, was also a top woman cyclist (winning a bronze in the 1975 world individual pursuit championship). Mother and daughter were both selected to represent Great Britain in the 1972 world championships.
Official British recognition of her sporting achievements included an MBE in 1964 and an OBE in 1968. Burton also won UK cycling's top accolade, the prestigious Bidlake Memorial Prize, a record three times, in 1959, 1960 and 1967.
Burton died of heart failure during a training ride shortly before her 59th birthday.
A memorial garden has been established in her home town of Morley. Morley Cycling Club also donated a trophy (previously won 20 times by Burton) to the RTTC for a special Champion of Champions competition for women of all ages: the Beryl Burton trophy.
